Death Penalty News

Responding to the sentencing of nine police officers to death by the First Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai for the 2020 custodial torture and killing of P. Jayaraj and P. Bennix, Aakar Patel, Amnesty International India’s Chair of Board, said:  “The court verdict marks a rare moment of accountability in India’s long struggle against police torture. The verdict acknowledges the brutality of a crime that shocked the nation. But this death penalty sentence is not justice – it is a deflection from the deeper reforms urgently required to ensure police oversight and accountability. Punishing a human rights violation with another does not end violence; it just perpetuates it.

The Iranian judiciary has issued its first indictments against several detained demonstrators amid a fierce crackdown on nationwide anti-government protests that erupted in late December 2025 over severe economic hardship and escalated into calls for regime change, according to reports from Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency. The prosecutor's office in Tehran has filed charges against multiple individuals, with Tasnim reporting that cases involving especially serious "rioters" are being prioritized and handled separately. These include the charge of moharebeh ("waging war against God" or "enmity against God"), a capital offense under Iran's Islamic Penal Code that carries the death penalty.

Brazilian police were today accused of gruesome brutality as part of a bloody gang crackdown before international heads of state and dignitaries arrive in the country for the COP30 Climate Summit. Officers have been accused of beheading a teenage gangster and hanging his head from a tree after the country's bloodiest-ever favela raid. In the ongoing favela violence, gangs bombed police with drones in revenge for the deadly crackdown in the Penha district. 'This is how the Rio police are treated by criminals: with bombs dropped by drones,' said a police spokesperson.  'This is the scale of the challenge we face. This is not ordinary crime, but narco-terrorism.' A resident added: 'This is the first time we've seen drones from criminals dropping bombs in the community. Everyone is terrified because there's so much gunfire.' The aerial assaults came after a brutal police crackdown left at least 119 people dead - spotlighting the city's controversial ...

Guards at Qezel Hesar Prison in Karaj violently raided the political prisoners’ ward and executed two inmates, according to social media reports from a political prisoner. The Instagram page of Ahmadreza Haeri, a political prisoner, reported that prison guards and security forces stormed the political ward on Saturday and "completely ransacked" it. During the raid, two political prisoners, Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hosseini, were transferred to solitary confinement and executed on Sunday morning, according to the report.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested on Tuesday morning following the issuance of an arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Lawyers and complainants, however, believe this is only the start of a long legal battle before the international tribunal.  Malacañang confirmed Tuesday that former President Rodrigo Duterte is under the custody of authorities after getting arrested for crimes against humanity. In a statement, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said that when the former president arrived in Manila, authorities served the warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court (ICC) against him.

A Japanese man acquitted of a 1966 quadruple murder in a retrial is set to file a lawsuit against the state for defamation after the prosecutor general called the ruling that found him not guilty "unacceptable," his lawyers said Thursday.  Iwao Hakamada, 88, was acquitted by the Shizuoka District Court last September after spending nearly half a century on death row before new evidence led to his release in 2014. He was recognized that year as the world's longest-serving death row prisoner. 

Iwao Hakamada's Trial by Ordeal Iwao Hakamada, a former Japanese professional boxer, became one of the most prominent symbols of judicial miscarriage after spending more than four decades on death row for a crime he always maintained he did not commit. His case, marked by allegations of forced confessions, fabricated evidence by the police, and prosecutorial misconduct, has drawn international attention to Japan's legal system.

Aware that only the use of terror and force keeps it in power, the Cuban regime makes it clear that if necessary, it will not hesitate to kill. HAVANA TIMES – Inflation, misery, the lack of medicine, and power outages, which were the triggers for previous demonstrations, are worsening daily in Cuba. Given the possibility that these protests may occur again, the regime has threatened the death penalty for those who participate in demonstrations considered “illegal.”

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish cleric from the Kurdish city of Bukan in western Iran (Rojhelat) was sentenced to death on charges related to his support for the antigovernment protests that engulfed Iran in 2022 following the death of Mahsa Zhina Amini.  Mohammed Khezrnejad, 45, received the death penalty after being charged with “corruption on earth,” Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported on Saturday. The verdict was announced by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Urmia, West Azerbaijan province.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); January 23, 2024: State media reported the execution of “Woman, Life, Freedom” protester Mohammad Ghobadlu in Ghezelhesar Prison. He was awaiting retrial after his death sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court, per his lawyer. Iran Human Rights condemns Mohammad Ghobadlu’s execution in the strongest terms and calls on the international community to stop the Islamic Republic’s execution machine by creating strong backlash.

Iranian Kurdish man Reza (Gholamreza) Rasaei is at imminent risk of execution in relation to the September-December 2022 nationwide protests.  On 16 December 2023, Branch 17 of the Supreme Court upheld his conviction and death sentence for “murder”, which were issued by a criminal court following a grossly unfair trial that admitted his torture-tainted forced “confessions” as “evidence”. On 31 December, his sentence was sent for implementation, amid an ongoing alarming spike in executions across the country.  

In the annals of Japan's criminal justice system, few cases have captured the nation's attention and stirred global outrage as much as that of Iwao Hakamada. His story is a tragic tale of wrongful conviction, decades spent on death row, and an ongoing fight for justice.  Circumstantial Evidence Iwao Hakamada's ordeal began in 1966 when he was arrested and charged with the brutal murder of a family of four in Shizuoka, Japan. 

It has been a year since Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the morality police. Since then, at least 537 people, including 71 children and teenagers, have been killed by the repressive forces of the Islamic Republic. Tens of thousands of people have tasted prison life and torture. Senior officials of the Islamic Republic have used the resources of their propaganda machinery to claim that protesters were few, that they were either thugs or the victims of deception by the “enemy.” On the other hand, women’s resistance against mandatory hijab and young Iranians’ calls for justice and freedom have bestowed glory on these 12 months.

A Japanese high court approved Monday a posthumous retrial for a man who was convicted of murdering a 69-year-old woman in 1984 in western Japan, upholding a lower court's decision. In accepting the 2nd retrial plea, sought by the family of Hiromu Sakahara, who died of illness aged 75 while serving his term in 2011, the Osaka High Court said the new evidence presented in the latest plea is "clear" and "should (warrant) an acquittal."

Iran’s government is doubling down on repression to stamp out the months-long uprising bent on its ouster. At the heart of these efforts: a small circle of judges connected to the country’s clerical leaders and security services, meting out long prison terms and death sentences to protest supporters.

Despite the regime killing about 500 protesters and hanging one, Iran’s police chief threatened the people with more "decisive" response in the coming days. Commander-in-chief of Law Enforcement Force of Islamic Republic Hossein Ashtari claimed Thursday that the police have shown "restraint" towards the protesters and will deal with them "decisively" from now on. Describing the protesters as "seditionists," he said that "for more than 70 days, the police have been a powerful presence” against the protesters.  The Islamic Republic authorities have kept threatening protesters with more violent confrontation with little effect on the determination of protesters, with fresh nationwide protests on Wednesday and three days of strikes.  On Thursday, people held gatherings to mourn the 40th day after the death of the death of several protesters in different parts of the country. Holding mourning ceremonies on specific days after someone’s death has ...

The Islamic Republic’s parliament is honing regulations that would enable the authorities to execute anyone who speaks or sends images to foreign media outlets.  Since the current wave of protests began in Iran following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, the authorities have been trying to restrict the spread of information both within the country and from inside the country to the international community.  In its latest move, the regime plans to ratify laws that would pave the way for executing people who are helping the world hear the voices of dissent. When finalized, the new law would help the hardliner Judiciary issue death sentences for anyone contacting foreign-based media.  The plan “to intensify the punishment of collaborators with the actions of hostile countries against national security and interests” describes any cooperation with “hostile countries, including the US government” as espionage. It considers any such cooperation as “corruption on earth,” whic...

Arizona Executes 76-Year-Old Man after Refusing DNA and Fingerprint Testing In its third execution of 2022, Arizona executed Murray Hooper for a 1980 crime that was never analyzed using modern forensic methods. In the days preceding his execution, his attorneys continued to request DNA testing and pursued new claims of prosecutorial misconduct based on evidence not revealed until Hooper’s clemency hearing. All challenges to his conviction and death sentence failed. In an investigative report published the day before Hooper’s scheduled execution, Liliana Segura of The Intercept reviewed the issues of race, misconduct, and innocence that have been central to Hooper’s legal challenges. In an interview with Segura, Hooper continued to protest his innocence and wanted his story told even if he was executed. “Even if they got me, at least it’s out there,” he said. Hooper was sentenced to death in 1983 for the murders of Patrick Redmond and his mother-in-law Helen Phelps. The prosecution alle...

Two deputies suspended, one Mulberry police officer on leave after video of brutal beating of homeless man goes viral In the video, three police officers are seen beating and kicking one of the accused in their custody on the ground. The video shows one officer punching the suspect in the head several times and another kneeling on the suspect’s body and another kicking him. (CNN) — Three Arkansas law enforcement officers have been removed from duty and are under investigation, their departments confirmed, after bystander video captured them appearing to punch and knee a suspect during an arrest Sunday. Two of the officers in the video are deputies with the Crawford County Sheriff's Office and the third is an officer with the Mulberry Police Department, the agencies confirmed in statements Sunday. The video, which was posted on social media, shows the officers restraining an individual near a curb, appearing to throw punches at the person's face and kneeing the individual in the...

GENEVA — Iran executed more than 100 people in the first three months of 2022, continuing a worrying upward trend, according to a report by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that was presented Tuesday. Speaking before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, U.N. deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif presented Guterres' latest report on Iran, decrying that executions in the country were on the rise. "While 260 individuals were executed in 2020, at least 310 individuals were executed in 2021, including at least 14 women," she said, adding that the trend had continued this year. Between January 1 and March 20, she said, "At least 105 people were executed," many of whom belonged to minority groups." Guterres's report had noted with deep concern the increase of executions for lesser crimes, including for drug-related offenses, Nashif said. "The death penalty continues to be imposed on the basis of charges not amounting to 'most serious cri...